Founders

One pitch.

Thousands of investors.

Focal is the hub for early-stage fundraising, accelerating the process and driving better results.

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S25 Demo Day: 15th May 2025, 2pm BST

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As featured in Sifted, This is Money, Maddyness & MailOnline

WHAT

Focal runs bi-annual demo days, attended by thousands of leading VCs and angel investors, which generate FOMO and inbound investor interest for your funding round.

Even those who don’t make it to demo day get exposure to our 250 world class VC fund partners.

W24 applications open September 2024

Criteria: Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A startups

Successful applicants will be invited to pitch at demo day in front of the world's most esteemed VC funds and angel investors.

WHY

Why choose Focal?

Speedy

Apply in 7 minutes, sit back, and relax. Within 3 weeks, we’ll tell you if your application has been successful.

Huge scale

Your application alone will be seen by our 250 leading VC fund partners. At demo day, share your vision with the thousands of VCs and angel investors in attendance, with one pitch.

Unbeatable ROI

Watch investor interest flow into your inbox after demo day and build FOMO for your funding round.

TEstimonials

Founders don’t look back after applying

Focal is the YC equivalent of the UK tech ecosystem.

Nicolas Baranowski

Frame

Our inbox went nuts after pitching at demo day. We ended up raising a big Pre-Seed from a selection of VCs and angels, many of whom we met via Focal. Really rate what they've built.

Jonny Plein

YASO

With nothing but an elevator pitch, we were contacted by 10 of the UK’s top VC firms, before we even started fundraising.

Kabalan Gaspard

DataPostie

The program was well-run and organised, and we obtained some amazing angels through the process. We would highly recommend Focal to any founder looking to raise capital in an efficient manner.

Charlie Bullock

Scan.com

Before we entered Focal we had a few thousand pounds committed to our SAFE. A couple of weeks, later we had hundreds of thousands in the SAFE and had found a lead investor for our upcoming Seed round too.

Andy Aitken

Honest Mobile

We felt supported every step of the way. Most importantly the event resulted in fruitful conversations with many investors and interested parties and placed us firmly on the ecosystem map.

Madi A

BOLDR

I can’t recommend Focal to founders enough. They've been amazing at supporting our mission.

Peony Li

Jude

Candidly, I was a little sceptical at first. We were totally blown away. It resulted in loads of VC / angel inbounds and even a couple of potential customers.

Dillon Harindiran

Slipstream

Someone in the startup world recommended I apply to Focal. It was very well run and we ended up raising a £1.3m seed round coming out of it. They also pooled together a load of smaller investors into an SPV which was cool. Definitely worth applying.

Charlotte Bax

Captur

Usually, you'd need to spend weeks to reach so many investors and have cold ears, but Focal helped us cut through the noise in one fell swoop.

Hamish Blythe

Trilo

Our finalists have raised >£110m from top-tier funds like

EXIT

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Backed by the best

Frequently asked questions

How can I hear about the next demo day?

If it makes more sense for you to pitch at the next demo day, sign up to our newsletter where you’ll get alerts and other cool stuff. Our demo days are typically around May and October.

Is it free to apply?

Yes, there is no cost to apply, or pitch at demo day!

Who can apply?

Any startup planning to raise a Pre-Seed, Seed or Series A round now, or in the near future, can apply. We welcome applications from across the globe

What happens after I apply?

Once applications close, our VC partners vote on the startups they think are most promising. We will then tell you whether or not you’ve been successful and include next steps.

What happens if I make it to demo day?

If you’re selected to pitch, we’ll ask you to submit a pre-recorded pitch of max. length of 3 minutes before demo day.

What happens after demo day?

Investors request introductions through our platform and we’ll send you details of the investor before offering you the introduction. We also set up special purpose vehicles SPVs, in collaboration with Odin, to allow attendees to invest in a handful of the finalists. We'll share further details on this with the selected companies at the time.